Feeling Brave and Going Bareback...

What Santa Needs to Bring Me If I
Plan to Keep Riding Bareback

Tee hee, I've had a glass of wine and just realize that headline's a bit saucy.  What the heck, I'm going with it.

I'm a bit ho-ho-hoed out, to the point that when my daughter asked "Don't you wish Christmas came twice a year?" my unedited response was a vehement "Hell NO!"  And there's more money spent on therapy for the progeny...Not gonna be bringing home that Mother of the Year statuette this year.  Sigh. 

Adding to holiday stress is the fact that this is my busiest season at work, and let's just say that I'm wound so tight I'm vibrating.  So the barn was necessary tonight.  I needed my mare fix like I needed oxygen. 

Sometimes when I feel like this I say the heck with serious riding and simply play.  My daughter and I decided it would be fun, and a good exercise in balance, to ride the girls around bareback.  Easier for Sophie than for me.  Cookie is a round pony with a flat back and mutton withers.  My Warmblood mare may be wide, but her Thoroughbred ancestry is apparent in her prominent withers and backbone.  You'd think the backbone would be advantageous in terms of holding you in place (don't want to get graphic here, but I'm sure you get the drift) but not so much.  Pretty much just makes things reeeaaaalllly uncomfortable.  I'm guessing the Native American's had flat backed horses with no withers, cause judging from all the pictures they weren't wearing all that much under those buckskins.

So, we rode bareback.  My mount was not exactly a thing of beauty.  Sug must've reverted back to instinct and thought she was being boarded by a ravenous cougar, as she shot forward and then stopped and looked back with a seriously annoyed WTH expression.  The walk parts were fine.  The trot bits not so much.  She's slippery, and I had a hard time relaxing and sitting into that backbone. Things would go well for about 50 feet, then Sug would feel me lose my balance a bit and make an executive decision to come down to the walk.

Naturally, if the trot isn't going well, you should try the canter, right?  Of course!  Actually, Sug's a lot like a big old cantering couch, so it was not an unreasonable assumption that the canter would go better than the trot.  So we cantered, around and around, and threw in the odd circle, and all went well.  I could relax and sit into her, and it was really neat to feel her back and side muscles moving.  I was feeling really good about myself, so just to keep me honest she shook her head and threatened to buck, and I humbled right up.

All in all it was a fun, easy, playful ride.  She was happy and relaxed, and walking with her head down low, snorting and sighing away. I was happy, and sighed a few times, but did not snort.

It was fun, but if I make a habit of this, I might have to invest in a bareback pad or a pair of breeches with a built in gel seat.

Hey, I might be on to something there!